Berklee Today

Berklee Beat: Faculty Notes

Associate Professor of Guitar John Baboian released a CD titled Mucho Gusto with the improvisational global music group World Leaders. The disc was recorded live at Ryles Jazz Club in April and features Bob Sinicrope (bass), Jim Repa and Mark Pinto (woodwinds), and other Boston-area musicians.

Associate Professor of Brass Tiger Okoshi recently returned from his fifth summer presenting clinics at Koyo Conservatory and a performance at the Phoenix Jazz Festival in Kobe, Japan. In August, he became the first jazz musician ever to be featured in the prestigious Japanese monthly magazine The Gold.

In July, Associate Professor of Composition Arthur Welwood brought faculty members Kathryn Wright (soprano) and Matt Marvuglio (flute) to the International World Harp Congress in Prague for the European premiere of his five-movement work The Breath Inside the Breath, for soprano, flute, harp, and viola.

This summer Guitar Department Professor Charles Chapman played at the Classic American Guitar Show on Long Island, New York, with jazz guitarists Dan Faehnle, Jimmy Bruno, and Frank Vignola. He also performed at the Bell Atlantic Jazz Awards in New York City and participated in the 20th Annual Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois, France.

Bassist Bruno Råberg, associate professor in the Ensemble Department, released 3Orbis2, his second album as a leader, featuring Bob Moses, Tim Ray, and Ole Mathisen. Råberg recorded his third CD with Swedish group 3Corpo2, and recorded with Lars-Erik Norrström Trio for LJ Records with vocalist Maeve Spain, Associate Professor of Percussion Casey Scheuerell, guitarist Jonny Johansson, and saxophonist and Associate Professor George Garzone.

Travel Journal, Haiku-inspired music for string quartet by Associate Professor of Composition Allen Levines was featured in Narrow Roads, a dance drama interweaving poetry, music, and movement arts of Japan and America. The production was staged at the Boston Conservatory on September 17 and 18.

The VH-1 program "Behind the Music" featured an on-camera interview with Assistant Professor of Guitar Lauren Passarelli for a story about Melissa Etheridge '81. The piece premiered on August 1 and will be shown periodically for three years.

Associate Professor of Guitar Jon Finn penned the book Advanced Modern Rock Guitar Improvisation published by Mel Bay Publications in the summer.

Music Production and Engineering Professor Stephen Webber received a midwestern regional Emmy nomination for the soundtrack he wrote for the animated film Zoetrobics. Webber and the film's director, Ed Counts, gave the keynote presentation at the International Animation Society's national convention in Chicago. His article "Zen and the Art of the First Gig" was featured in the September issue of Mix magazine.

Sheldon Mirowitz, associate professor of Film Scoring, composed the score to the film Outside Providence starring Alec Baldwin. This was the third film Mirowitz scored in 1999.

Assistant Professor of Guitar Dan Bowden completed a book of solo transcriptions by jazz guitar great Jimmy Bruno. Mel Bay Publications published the 118-page volume. Eight tunes from the new album Bowden recorded with his Stingy Brimm acoustic trio can be heard or downloaded at <www.mp3.com/stingybrimm>.

Bill Leavitt, the late chair of the Guitar Department, and guitar faculty members Mick Goodrick, Jack Pezanelli, and Mitch Seidman received biographical entries in the fourth edition of The Jazz Guitar and Its Evolution by British author Maurice Summerfield.

Associate Professor of Jazz Composition Jeff Friedman published an article about his identifying the previously unknown Duke Ellington composition "Baby, You Can't Miss." The only documentation of the piece is a recording of Ellington playing it at a 1971 reception following commencement ceremonies where he received a Berklee honorary doctorate. Friedman also recently contributed guitar tracks to the CD Ah, Er, Um by bassist Eric Mingus '87.

Saxophonist and Associate Professor of Contemporary Writing Dan Moretti released a new CD titled That's Right on the 1201 Music label. The disc garnered favorable reviews in Jazziz, Jazz Chronicles, and other publications. Moretti also performed at numerous jazz festivals this summer, including appearances with Dave Liebman.

In May, Assistant Professor of Composition Alexandros Kalogeras went to the Conservatory of Athens, Greece, to present a series of lectures on American twentieth-century music.

While on sabbatical from Berklee earlier this year, Professor David Vose presented percussion clinics in Scotland, Finland, Holland, Belgium, France, and Switzerland. Yamaha Corporation of America and Silver Fox Percussion provided support for his work abroad.